Apparatus for expanding slag



Aug. 5, 1952 D. G. WHEELER APPARATUS FOR EXPANDING SLAG 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

Filed. March 8, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Illil-lln .illii ill-E &

D. G. WHEELER APPARATUS FOR EXPANDING SLAG Aug. 5, 1952 Filed March 8, 195Q JMM e J Lilli;

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Patented Aug. 5, 1952 APPARATUS FOR EXPANDING SLAG I I e Dee G. Wheeler, Chicago, Ill., assignor to The Celotex Corporation, Chicago, 111.,

tion of Delaware a corpora- Application March 8, 1950, Serial No. 148,326

' 4 Claims; (01. 1's 2.5) 1

The device hereof is a new and improved apparatus for expanding slag for the formation of a light weight slag material which is particularly useful as an aggregate in combination wit cement to form a concrete mixture. The objects of this invention are in particular the provision of an apparatus for expandingslag, which is very simple in construction, is of low cost, involves no moving parts in its operation, and which may be operated with a minimum of maintenance. Other and furtherobjects of the invention will be apparent upon reading the following specification, particularly When considered in connection with the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the apparatus, a part thereof being shown in section;

Figure 2 is a top plan view;

Figure 3 is a front elevation of the trough portion of the device, or it may be consideredaas a section taken on line 3-3 of Figure l; and

Figure 4 is a face elevation of the target portion of the apparatus, or it may be considered asa section taken on line 4-4 of Figure 1.

In the drawings the entire apparatus is shown as comprising two parts; one the expanding trough section, and the other thetarget portion.

Briefly, the expanding trough comprises a.

trough-like member expanding or tapering from its smaller rear end to its larger forward end, and provided at its rear end with water jets. The tar-, get portion of the apparatus comprises a target member spaced from the forward end of the trough member, and is provided with means whereby various adjustments of the target member may be made.

The trough member is composed of a trough form portion made up of inner and outer members l and II, respectively. .These trough shaped members [0 and l l are preferably formed of sheet steel, and the space between these members may be filled with a suitable refractory, for example, fire clay or the like. Alternatively, instead of forming the trough member of separate plate members and H, the trough member may be formed of a single heavier plate of steel, or the like, either comprising one piece or several pieces suitably welded, and which preferably would be of about inch steel plate, or, the trough member may be a solid, suitably formed iron or steel casting. The specific construction of the trough portion is relatively immaterial, it being only necessary to provide a trough-like member, as illustrated, which will withstand the various physical conditions to which it is subjected, that is, relatively high temperature, abrasion, and the like.

The trough portion is generally about five to six feet in length, and roughly of about one to two square feet in' cross section at the rear end flares outwardly to a cross section at the forward end to approximately twice the cross section at the rear. The trough is shown as having a formed cover portion l2, which is substantially semi-circle in cross section, and is provided along its edges with channel-like flange portions I3 which will be suitably formed to mount the cover portion l2 on the top edges of sire walls of the trough member. I bolts [4 may be secured to fiange portions l3 so that the top cover member may be conveniently lifted. Near the rear end of the cover member l2, there is provided a substantially circular opening identifiedby numeral [5, and isprovided. about its periphery with an upstanding, outwardly flared flange portion l6.

At the rear end of the trough member there is provided a header, or suitable chamber [9, which, at its front face, is provided with a plurality of nozzles 20. Water is supplied to chamber I9 under pressure by pump 2| which may be driven from a suitable power source, such as motor 22, and'suitable piping is provided connecting pump 2| to chamber I9. The piping is identified by numeral 23, and in the run of piping there are provided suitable swinging joints 24 for a purpose which will hereinafter become apparent.

The pump 2| should preferably be a pump which will provide an ample supply of water at about 250 pounds pressure to feed about 20 to 25 one-quarter to three-eighths inch nozzles 20. In general, the. actual Water pressure required will be around pounds pressure at the nozzles but, as will be hereinafter explained, an operating margin should be provided, and therefore, as stated, the pump should be one capable of developing a pressure of about 250 pounds at the nozzles.

Provision is made whereby the trough member may be tilted about its longitudinal axis, and such means are illustrated in the drawings as comprising suitable upstanding ears on framework25 and on the trough member I l, which ears are identified as 2'6 and 21, respectively, and

are provided with suitable openings through which a'pivot shaft or pin 28 may be inserted.

At the rear end of the trough member'there is provided a hydraulic cylinder 29 which is pivotally mounted at 30, and which has a piston member 3| pivotally mounted at 32 to the rear end of the trough member. It should be obvious that by'suitably applying a pressure fluid to the hydraulic cylinder 29 the rear end of the trough may be raised or lowered so that the trough may be suitably inclined to the horizontal, as may be desired, and as the trough member is raised or lowered, the piping system, due to the provision of the swinging joints 2 3, may follow the movement of thewater chamber l9 which, of course, moves with the trough member.

In front of the trough member there is provided a target 35 which may be merely a steel plate substantially rectangular and approximately the size or, preferably, slightly larger than the front end of the trough member, and which on its face, toward the trough-member, is provided with beads 36 which may be formed directly on the face of the target, or which may be small half rounds welded to the face of the target plate 35, or which may be directly built up on the face of the target by well deposits, orprovlded by any other suitable means. V

.111] is necessary that the target plate be adjustablewith respect to the trough member, and such means is provided for various adjustments of the target plate. The target 35 is pivoted at 31 to supporting framework comprising members 38, which, together-with member 39, comprises a supportingframe for target plate 35.

The .target supporting frame, comprising members 3B and 39', is provided-with wheels 86 which are'adaptedto be supported on and to run on rail members dl. For suitably positioning the'target and its supporting framework along rails 4!, a rack member 34 is provided on the underside of framemember 39, and a driving gear 45 therefor is provided, which gear t5 is mounted on a shaft 45 in turn mounted in rails 4|, and which may be provided with a hand wheel 4-"! for turning the shaft 66 and rack drive .gear 45 for adjusting the position of the target plate .toward or away from the mouth or forward end of the trough member.

For securing target member in a suitably tilted position, there isrprovided a strap member 56 which is pivoted to the lower end of target plate 35 at M, which strap is provided with an elongated slot 52 through which projects a threaded stud 53 mountedon a frame member 38, and there is provided a securing nut or the like 54 which, when screwed down on threaded stud 53, will secure strap 50 and consequently secure target plate 35 in adjusted position.

Finally, for providing vertical adjustment of the target plate, rails M are mounted on pistons 51 of hydraulic cylinders 58, which cylinders are, of course, provided with connections for supplying hydraulic fluid andsuitable source of supply and control thereof, all as is well known to those skilled in the art, and which hydraulic system is conventional;

In the operation of this device, hot slag, from a blast furnace, or other suitable source of slagfor expanding, is in any suitable manner charged into the trough member through the upstanding flange member it provided around opening l5 in the trough cover; The. hot slag is ordinarily at atemperature'of around 260G. F., but this will vary somewhat depending upon the particular conditions existing. However, many event, the hot slag is substantially a molten rock and, of course, must be sufficiently hot so that it will readily pour or discharge as a stream through the opening l5. As the hot stream of slag enters 4 into the trough member, it is impacted by the water jets from the nozzles 20, which water jets tend to disrupt or tear the stream into chunks or particles. Due to the sudden cooling of the molten slag and the almost instantaneous heating of at least a portion of the water, and its conversion into steam, violent physical forces comes into play, and these together with the force of impact of the water jets will cause the lumps and particles, into which the slag stream is disrupted, to be forcibly projected within the trough. These projected slag lumps and particles, in a still somewhat plastic state, will be projected against the target 35 and, due to the fact that they are not entirely solidified, these lumps and particles will build up on the face of target 35, sometimes to a thickness of up to a foot, and even as much as two feet thick, but eventually the mass so built up on the plate 35 will fall off, and these masses, together with such lumps and the like which were thrown against the plate which did not adhere, but which instead fell, may all be removed from below the target plate by any suitable means. Due .to either one or both, the effect of the steam which is generated on contacting the Water streams and hot slag streams, and the release of occluded or dissolved gases in the slag material, the partially cooled particles and lumps of slag are expanded by such gases to form more or less porous or honeycomb cellular structure, so that the material projected from the trough and built upon the target plate 35 is a'cellular or honeycomb mass which, when suitably broken up into aggregate size, constitutes an admirable material for admixture with cement in the formation of concrete andiother various uses which are known to those skilled in theart.

It is to be understood that since the hot slag will from time to time vary somewhat in its chemical constituents and in the proportions thereof, and will'vary somewhat in temperature due to operating conditions of the source thereof, and operating conditions with respect to the apparatus hereof, the various adjustments previously described have been provided. Of course it is to be understood that the operator, in accordance with the operation a: the apparatus, will vary the water jet pressure and, possibly, substitute nozzles. For example, under certain conditions one-quarter inch nozzles may be preferable, whereas, under other operating condi tions, as, for example, where the slag source is crum or pivot shaft 28 by suitable operation of hydraulic cylinder 29, so as to get the most satisfactory conditions for projection of the stream of Slag lumps and particlesfrom the trough under the effect of the impact of the water jets and the effect of the physical forces which are set up due to the sudden changes which result as the water jets impact the hot slag stream.

Also it is to be understood that the target plate 35 will be raised orilowered by suitable operation by hydraulic cylinders 58, as isrequired for best reception of theprojec'ted slag from the trough .membena'nd target plate 35 may be moved to ward or from the mouth or forward end of the trough by suitable manipulation of hand wheel 41, and that the angularity of target plate 35 may be suitably adjusted and secured by adjustment of strap 50 and securing of stud nut 54. From tlme to time the operator will make the adjust ments which have just been described in order to obtain a satisfactory build up of the projected plastic mass of slag from the trough member, since it is desirable that fairly large chunks or lumps be built up on the target plate 35 before the adhered mass falls off. Such is desirable due to the fact that when the slag lumps build up in mass, and in masses of considerable size, cooling is relatively slow and there is obtained the desired annealing effect.

The actual production of expanded slag is well understood to be an art due to the fact that the raw material, the molten slag stream, almost continuously varies in its properties. The actual production of a good expanded slag is largely dependent upon observation of the resulting product by the operator, with suitable adjustments being made from time to time by the operator to compensate for variations in the raw material. As previously described, provision has been made in the construction of the apparatus so that the operator may make the various adjustments which from time to time may be required to produce a high grade of material, and to compensate for the from time to time variations in the slag supply, as previously referred to.

The inention hereof having been fully described, I claim:

1. Apparatus as described comprising, a trough form member tapering lengthwise and having a relatively small rear end and relatively large forward discharge end, a separate cover therefor, the cover resting on the trough member, a fluid header at the small end thereof, nozzles mounted in the fluid header and positioned to discharge substantially longitudinally of the trough member, a port in the trough cover adjacent the narrower end but ahead of the nozzles mounted in the fluid header the trough form member pivotally mounted adjacent its forward end and means provided adjacent its other or rear end for adjusting its rear end vertically.

2. Apparatus as described in claim 1 wherein a fluid pump is connected to the fluid header by conduit means and the conduit means is provided with swinging joints.

3. In the apparatus described in claim 1, an adjustable target plate positioned in front of but spaced from the forward or discharge end of the trough like member, means adjusting the position of the target plate toward and away from the trough form member, means adjusting the target plate vertically, and means tilting the target plate on a horizontal axis thereof.

4. Apparatus as described comprising in combination, a trough form member, the trough tapering in width from a relatively narrow rear end to a relatively wide front end and adapted to receive a falling stream adjacent its rear end, a member closing the rear end of the trough whereas the front end is open, a cover member resting on the trough walls with a port through which liquid slag may be poured into the trough and with means whereby the cover may be readily lifted from the trough member, a plurality of jets for discharging fluid adjacent the rear wall, substantially parallel to the trough walls and directed toward the open end of the trough, means tiltably mounting the trough with respect to its longitudinal axis, and means for tilting the trough.

DEE G. WHEELER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

